ED gets Centre's approval to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs MHA has authorized the Enforcement Directorate ED to initiate prosecution against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA for their alleged involvement in money laundering linked to the Delhi excise policy case reported news agency ANIThe sanction order against these Aam Aadmi Party AAP leaders was received earlier this month in a fresh development to the case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the nowscrapped Delhi liquor policy for 202122 reported ANIThe move comes as the two leaders are out on bail in the Delhi excise policy case as the Supreme Court in September last year ordered Arvind Kejriwal to be released on regular bail as well as Manish Sisodia a month ago in August in cases linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scamThe development is significant as a special PMLA court in Delhi had delayed the framing of charges against Arvind Kejriwal after he challenged the trial courts decision to take cognizance of the chargesheet in the absence of specific sanctions for prosecution under PMLAMeanwhile the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI which has filed a chargesheet against Arvind Kejriwal under the Prevention of Corruption Act received the necessary sanction for prosecution in August of last yearThis decision follows the Supreme Courts ruling on November 6 which mandated that the Enforcement Directorate ED must also obtain prior sanction for prosecution under Section 1971 of the Criminal Procedure Code now Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in money laundering cases similar to the requirement for the CBI reported ANIThe framing of charges against Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case had been delayed in a Delhi court due to the lack of the necessary sanctionArvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party AAP have been accused of accepting bribes from the South Group a cartel that controlled the sale and distribution of liquor in Delhi and allegedly profited from the excise policy implemented by the Delhi government for 202122 reported ANITo date the ED has conducted searches on 245 locations across the country including Delhi Hyderabad Chennai Mumbai and other places in the Delhi excise policy caseOver a dozen persons including Arvind Kejriwal Manish Sisodia Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair from AAP have been arrested in the case so farThe ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA and named him in a charge sheet filed on May 17 The ED alleges that out of an alleged Rs 100 crore bribe received for favouring certain liquor traders Rs 45 crore was used to fund AAPs election campaign in Goa reported ANIThe ED claims Arvind Kejriwal as the national convenor and a member of AAPs national executive was ultimately responsible for overseeing the funds and activitiesThe agency labelled Kejriwal as the brain behind AAP asserting that he controlled the partys operations Citing witness statements the ED also accused Kejriwal of playing a key role in the policys decisionmaking and demanding kickbacks The ED claims to have identified proceeds of crime totalling Rs 1100 crore reported ANIKejriwal along with his thendeputy Manish Sisodia and former AAP media head Vijay Nair is accused of soliciting additional funds beyond the Rs 100 crore bribe to finance election campaigns The ED described Kejriwal as the kingpin behind the irregularities linked to the excise policyWith inputs from ANI